2019 National Event Schedule Released as NTPA Celebrates 50 Years

So, what’s new for ’19?

GN circuit expands eastward; number of events up 10 percent

This offseason has been a very busy one, as the demand for Association events is at an all-time high. Requests continue to pour into the WPI/NTPA office, and there may be a few more pulls added to this list of 83 by the end of winter.

Of course, our recess kicked off last fall with the announcement of the NTPA Shipshewana Spring Nationals. In August, Gregg Randall, NTPA GM, stopped by the one-year-old Michiana Event Center in northern Indiana on my way from Bowling Green to Hudsonville, Michigan and was instantly impressed with the facility. This indoor event on Friday and Saturday, March 22-23 will, like the just-completed Winter Nationals in Cloverdale, Indiana, feature a regulation length track and a connected, roofed pit area. Shipshewana will bring in several divisions that do not compete at C-Bar-C to provide a great springtime complement to Cloverdale, which will be back for year six in 2020.

In another major development, the Commonwealth of Virginia will once again appear on the Grand National calendar. Virginia Motorsports Park will welcome three NTPA GN classes to the dirt course adjacent to its dragstrip, which is a yearly stop on the National Hot Rod Association’s tour. The Central Virginia Nationals are set for June 7-8.

Moving to late in that month are the Power Pull Nationals in Hutchinson, Minnesota. This two-night GN has pushed its dates back a couple of weeks to June 28-29. Motivating the move is a recurring conflict with the annual Winstock Country Music Festival in nearby Winsted, and there has been talk of the weekend after Tomah becoming Hutch’s regular spot. Time will tell on the permanence of this change.

In July, the Washington County Tractor Pullers Association will host the NTPA at Hagerstown Speedway in north-central Maryland for a pair of nights, July 12-13. Pro Stock competitor Tim Ammons (Ultimate Harvester) is one of the folks spearheading this event. The Speedway has hosted pulling for decades and has developed a huge following for our motorsport. The Association looks to enhance its presence on the eastern seaboard in our first appearance at that track for GN pulling since 1987.

And over Labor Day weekend, the Stark County Fair in Canton, Ohio has expanded to two nights of NTPA competition on August 30-31. As always, Canton will feature GN Pro Stocks and a selection of RN divisions.

A few events have been designated as Pro National contests. These include a new pull in Hoopeston, Illinois as well as stalwarts such as Monroe, Michigan and Wauseon and Canfield, Ohio. RN classes that appear at these events will pay a raised PN purse, while RN-licensed vehicles will earn Region II points.

Several new Regional Nationals pepper the schedule as well, and others will be announced soon. Be sure to keep an eye on next month’s issue of The Puller or surf over to ntpapull.com/schedule for the latest updates.

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